Old Mrs. Song is reborn; get out of here, you scumbag husband and illegitimate child!

The brigade headquarters was filled with smoke.

Zhou Fang placed a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes in front of each person, then handed out cigarettes to the captain and a few others. He took out a handful of White Rabbit milk candies from his pocket and placed them in the center of the table.

"Uncles, I'll have to trouble you to make this trip."

The brigade secretary frowned deeply as he looked at the cigarettes and candy.

Who in the village doesn't know about the Zhou family's messy affairs?

That whole family cursed for a month or two, until everyone was sick of hearing it.

"Zhou Fang," the brigade leader said earnestly, tucking a cigarette behind his ear, "separating the family property is a big deal, but you need to think this through carefully at this crucial juncture. Your wife is going to university, and that will be for several years. Are you really okay with that?"

The captain was an experienced man; he had a keen eye for things.

"You're not like Xiang Dong. Xiang Dong is a military officer, and he has a capable woman named Song Xianglan supporting him at home."

Your family... they can't stand seeing others do well and wish they could skin you alive.

If your wife leaves and becomes unfaithful, or if she finds the house messy and poor and doesn't want you and the children anymore...

Women, once they enter this world of temptations, are easily fickle.

The accountant next to him nodded in agreement.

"That makes sense. Even though she has two children, if she wants to run away, no one can stop her."

Zhou Fang struck a match.

Light a cigarette for the captain.

"Uncle, I've thought this through very clearly."

Zhou Fang's eyes were colder and harder than the stones outside. "Marrying a wife is for living life together, not for locking her up in a cage."

She has the ability to get into university; that's her good fortune.

If I were to break her wings and confine her at home for my own selfish reasons, I wouldn't be a real man.

Whether she changes her mind or not is her business.

The captain was taken aback.

Looking through the smoke at this usually quiet young man.

"Even if she never comes back, I'll accept it." Zhou Fang stubbed out his cigarette on the corner of the table. "But I can't break her wings before she can even take flight."

The captain sighed.

"Alright, since you've put it this way, we'll help you. Come on, let's go to your place."

They arrived at the Zhou family's residence.

The house was in complete chaos.

Zhou Lao Er's wife was still cursing and swearing.

When the brigade cadres arrived, he reluctantly shut his mouth, shrank to the side, and rolled his eyes.

The dispute over the division of property lasted until after 8 p.m.

It was written clearly in black and white.

Zhou Fang and his family left with nothing.

Aside from their own clothes and bedding, the family members weren't allowed to take a single grain of rice or a single piece of firewood from the house.

Zhou's mother sat on the bench, her face as long as a donkey's.

"Sign and get out. Whether you live or die outside is none of this family's business."

Zhou's father puffed on his cigarette without saying a word.

He was thinking that Zhou Fang would probably beg for mercy in the middle of the night, and then he could make some demands and let the child into the house.

Hey.

Parents worry themselves sick over their children.

Zhou Fang took the family division agreement, carefully folded it, and put it in his pocket.

He walked to the center of the main room, faced Zhou's father and mother, and knelt down with a thud.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

He kowtowed three times, and it was a truly hearty kowtow.

"Dad, Mom."

Zhou Fang stood up. "My three elder brothers, thank you for raising me. I will give you whatever amount you owe me for my retirement. Besides that, I have to support my wife and children, and I don't have a penny more. Your son is unfilial, and I'm leaving now."

Done.

He turned and left.

"You ungrateful wretch, I should have thrown you down the toilet if I'd never given birth to you."

Zhou's mother grabbed the teacup on the table and smashed it against the door frame with a loud bang.

Enamelware was scattered all over the floor.

"Get out! If your whole family of four freezes to death in the dead of winter, I won't even bother to collect your corpses. Don't ever set foot in this house again!"

Zhou strode across the threshold.

Without turning his head, he left his family with only a resolute silhouette.

The wind was howling outside.

He felt as if a huge mountain had been lifted off his shoulders.

……

The main room of the Song family was warm and inviting.

A pot sat on the table, the charcoal fire glowing red, and the bottom of the pot was bubbling away.

The side was filled with sliced ​​meat, fresh shrimp and crab, oysters, clams, handmade fish balls and meatballs, and several thick pork bones tumbling in the soup.

When Zhou Fang pushed the door open and came in.

The aroma filled the room and wafted straight into my nostrils.

Song Xiangdong was pouring a bottle of Moutai into a glass. "Hurry up, we've been waiting for you. This liquor is something I brought back from the army. Tonight, we're not leaving until we're drunk."

"Please sit down, please sit down."

Huang Ronghua also greeted them, "The rooms over there are all set up, the stove is burning brightly, and the brazier is lit. You can get a warm night's sleep when you go over there."

Zhou Fang rubbed his frozen hands.

Looking at the people waiting for him in this room, his eyes welled up with tears.

"Come on, have a drink first." Song Xiangdong raised his glass.

A few people bumped into each other.

A mouthful of strong liquor burned from my throat all the way down to my stomach.

Song Xianglan watched them drinking happily.

said laughingly:

"It's windy over there by the sea. We have a few thick curtains and window curtains at home, and I'll have Xiangdong bring them over to hang them up later."

Even a dilapidated house needs to feel alive during the Lunar New Year.

"Thank you, Aunt Song." An Xiyang's eyes were full of joy.

The women ate for a while.

Seeing that the men were having a great time chatting, I left first.

Da Bao and Er Bao were already so sleepy they could barely keep their eyes open, so Song Tingting carried the children to her own room and onto her bed.

Shen Huijun pulled An Xiyang to Tingting's room as well.

The three women got together and had endless things to talk about.

Anxi Yang's eyes also brightened.

Song Xianglan was getting old and couldn't stay up all night, so she gave a few instructions and went back to her room to sleep.

She receives a pension every month now, and her health is precious, so she needs to take good care of herself. She also wants to watch her grandchildren grow up.

They drank until after 10 p.m.

The meat and vegetables on the table were almost all gone.

Song Xiangdong got up and put on his coat. "Let's go, brothers, let's go and boost Zhou Fang's popularity."

The group went to the old house.

This house has been abandoned for more than ten years.

The villagers all say it's haunted.

The lights are on inside tonight.

Huang Ronghua, Wang Zhihe, and Liu Yukun were all present.

Before entering, Huang Ronghua lit three incense sticks at the door, muttering incantations: "All gods and bodhisattvas, earth gods, and local deities, today is Brother Zhou Fang's housewarming day, please bless him."

"To any passing spirits, please give us some face and let's keep to ourselves from now on."

The brothers were efficient; they had already cleaned the house spotless, sprinkled a whole bottle of floral water, and lit sandalwood incense.

The aroma was a blend of the smoke and fumes from the stove.

It smells surprisingly good.

The bed frame is new; Huang Ronghua moved it from his own home.

The bed was covered with a new cotton quilt given to it by Song Xianglan.

Soft.

Song Xiangdong pushed a wheelbarrow in from outside the door.

The truck was piled up like a small mountain.

A bag of rice, a bag of flour, and a large bucket of rapeseed oil.

There are also fried meatballs, fried ribbonfish, five-spice rolls, sweet potatoes, and taro, which are essential for Chinese New Year. In addition, there are rice cakes, red tortoise cakes, and vegetable cakes.

A large piece of pork belly, and the truck bed was also stuffed with cabbage, mustard greens, spinach, carrots, and potatoes.

And all kinds of seafood.

It was even more lavish than the New Year celebrations of the wealthier families in the village.

Zhou Fang looked at the truckload of goods, his Adam's apple bobbed, and he turned to look at Song Xiangdong, speechless for a long time.

"Stop being so girly."

Song Xiangdong slapped Zhou Fang on the back. "This was prepared by my mother. She said that after the family is separated, it's a new beginning, and we can't let anyone look down on us. If you need anything, just go home and get it. Treat that place like your parents' home."

Wang Zhihe also joined in:

"Brother Fang, I'll bring you some more firewood and coal tomorrow."

Liu Yukun squatted on the ground, fiddling with the brazier.

The tone was a little sour:

"Brother Fang, to be honest, I envy you. Even though this house is dilapidated, you're in charge of your own life."

You have no idea, when I came out just now, I glanced at the cured meat at home, and my mom almost sliced ​​me to pieces with that glare. In that house, I wouldn't dare touch a single blade of grass.

As he spoke, he vigorously poked at the charcoal fire.

"Seriously, I'd like to separate from the family. Even living in a pigsty would be like living in paradise, as long as no one's cursing in my ear."

Liu Yukun is a few years younger than them.

His peers in the village all had children, but his parents never mentioned finding a matchmaker for him.

Zhou Fang took a deep breath.

Looking at this simple yet warm new home, he nodded vigorously.

"Things will get better. We'll all be alright."

……

The next day was Lunar New Year's Eve.

Song Xianglan got up very early in the morning.

She changed into a newly made dark red cotton-padded jacket, her hair was neatly combed, and she even had a flower in her hair.

She was carrying a basket filled with pastries and a whole piece of pork belly.

We went to the banyan tree at the entrance of the village.

A few years ago, this would have been considered a superstitious activity that would have been criticized and denounced.

Lately, the authorities have been turning a blind eye, and the villagers have started secretly worshipping again.

There was already quite a bit of incense ash under the banyan tree.

Song Xianglan respectfully lit the incense and kowtowed.

She silently prayed in her heart: May my family be safe and sound, and may Xiang Dong be safe.

back home.

The courtyard has already become lively.

Preparing the New Year's Eve dinner today involves a huge undertaking: slaughtering chickens and ducks.

Song Xiangdong rolled up his sleeves, held a kitchen knife in his hand, and deftly slaughtered and bled the chicken. The chicken flapped its wings twice and then stopped moving.

The Lin family next door is also quite lively.

Lin Gang and Lin Mu were putting up Spring Festival couplets in the yard with their child.

This year, the Lin family is doing much better. Their daughter, Liu Chou, took out ten yuan to buy New Year's goods, and the children were all happy. Even the usually mean-spirited Old Man Lin was beaming with joy.

They can't compare to the Song family on the left, but they're much better than their neighbor, the Lu family, on the right.

"Head east!"

The ugly woman shouted over the wall, "What good food do you guys eat during the Spring Festival in the army?"

While plucking the chicken's feathers, Song Xiangdong replied with a smile, "Braised pork, all kinds of fish, shrimp, and crab, and plenty of dumplings and glutinous rice balls. There's also a performance by the cultural troupe tonight, it'll be quite lively."

The ugly woman clicked her tongue in admiration as she listened.

"I can't count on my kids; they're destined to toil in the fields their whole lives. We'll just have to see if my grandchildren have the luck to join the army."

The two families chatted and laughed across the wall.

The festive atmosphere of the New Year grows stronger in the cold wind.

Shen Huijun and Song Tingting are washing vegetables.

Song Xianglan is making garlic duck.

"Third Sister." There was a sudden knock on the courtyard gate.